Geeks logo

Classic Movie Review: 'Frantic'

Polanski stumbles in plodding Hitchcock homage.

By Sean PatrickPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
Like

For a movie called Frantic, it’s in no hurry to tell its story. Frantic is a 1988 thriller starring Harrison Ford and directed by Roman Polanski. Frantic was released nationwide on February 23rd, 1988, 30 years ago this weekend as I am writing about it and it will be featured on the next Everyone is a Critic Movie Review Podcast available on iTunes, Google Play and your favorite podcatcher on Monday, February 26. Here’s a preview of my part of the Frantic conversation.

Harrison Ford stars in Frantic as Edward Walker, a doctor on vacation in Paris with his wife, Sondra (Betty Buckley). As they arrive at their hotel and begin planning their touristy trappings, things seem peaceful. However, when Edward gets in the shower, Sondra takes a phone call that takes her to the lobby and into the arms of kidnappers. It seems a mistaken piece of luggage has led to a mix up that led to the kidnapping.

Edward tries to seek help from the Paris Police Department but officious detectives simply assume Sondra ran off. The American Embassy, headed up by the late John Mahoney in a cameo role, are equally dubious of Sondra’s whereabouts and unhelpful. This leads Edward to take up his own investigation starting with the mistaken suitcase and leading to the seediest parts of Paris.

Eventually, Edward finds the owner of the suitcase, a smuggler named Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner), who isn’t quite sure what she’s being paid to smuggle. Together, Edward and Michelle must unravel some international intrigue on their way to locating Edward’s wife and perhaps uncovering the McGuffin that all of the bad guys want so desperately.

Roman Polanski directed Frantic and unfolds the mystery in a slow and uncompromising fashion. It makes sense that the story would unfold slowly given that Ford’s Walker is not a trained investigator and doesn’t know what he’s doing. At the same time however, even as the slow pace makes sense, the verisimilitude of the amateur investigation doesn’t exactly make for riveting entertainment.

Frantic has elements of classic Hitchcockian mystery but lacks Hitchcock’s sense of urgency and pace. Hitchcock may not have always moved at record speed but his movies always felt urgent and in the moment. Frantic takes its time to the point of stopping dead in its tracks from time to time. Frantic is well-made but the plodding pace robs it of the urgency and excitement that marks a great thriller.

Harrison Ford is well cast as Edward Walker. As the film begins he’s just an average, kind of charming, everyman, very believable in his complacent wealth. As the film goes on, Ford is the one seemingly urgent aspect of Frantic, but he’s continuously slowed by Polanski’s desire to keep the story from moving too fast. Ford isn’t the ideal actor for Frantic, he seems ready to run loose while the movie is stuck in neutral.

Emmanuelle Seigner is a pretty void where a character should be. Seigner is beautiful but doesn’t have the mysteriousness of Hitchcock’s legendary blondes on which her character is unquestionably based. Her eyes hide nothing and her manner lacks any sophistication. Say what you will about Hitchcock’s blondes, he gave them room to create entire films within their own characters and the mystery around them drove his best plots.

Polanski’s best work is weirdly experimental rather than typical. Rosemary’s Baby while ostensibly a horror film of the demon possession sub-genre, is instead more an experimental art film that happens to have a horror movie plot. Frantic meanwhile, lacks Polanski’s unique eye and artistry. Frantic is far too typical for Polanski and while that would seem to be seem to be a function of his attempt at homage to Hitchcock, the film is far too meandering to be a match for Hitchcock’s legendary stylish thrillers.

review
Like

About the Creator

Sean Patrick

Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.